The Rt Rev John Baker - obituary

The Rt Rev John Baker was a bishop who ruffled feathers with his stance on the
police, gay clergy, battery hens and the Bomb

The Rt Rev John Baker, Bishop of SalisburyPhoto: PETER ORME

5:32PM BST 05 Jun 2014

The Rt Rev John Baker, who has died aged 86, was Bishop of Salisbury from 1982 to 1993, having previously been rector of St Margaret’s church, Westminster, and Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Baker was the most able theologian among the bishops of his time, and although primarily an Old Testament scholar he applied his learning to a wide range of subjects, and was a useful member of many committees charged with the production of reports on social questions.

Until his consecration as a bishop, Baker was generally regarded as fairly conservative, both theologically and politically. His most important book, The Foolishness of God (1970), now regarded as a classic, was a sympathetic study of 20th-century questioning of the Bible and traditional Christian beliefs, but its conclusions were reassuring to the fearful and uncertain. An individualistic element in his personality had, however, been evident ever since his school days — and once he became a bishop he turned to a variety of controversial issues with sometimes electrifying effect.

Baker was chairman of a committee charged with examining the theological and moral aspects of nuclear warfare, and when its report, The Church and the Bomb (1982), advocated unilateral nuclear disarmament by Britain he found himself at the centre of a heated public debate. This hardly endeared him to the military personnel — active and retired — of Wiltshire; and no sooner had peace between the bishop and the colonels been restored than he launched an attack on battery farming which immediately aroused the ire of the farming community. Baker was, however, soon recruited as patron of Chicken’s Lib and later became president of the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals.

An invitation to give a Christmas address at a service attended by the Wiltshire police force provided an opportunity for the castigation of the constabulary for what Baker regarded as the insensitive handling of anti-nuclear demonstrations. Meanwhile, his public criticism of his own cathedral’s Dean and Chapter for their fundraising activities caused much offence.

The Rt Rev John Baker on the spire of Salisbury Cathedral (ROGER ELLIOTT/SALISBURY JOURNAL)

In 1990 Baker became chairman of a House of Bishops’ working party set up to consider “Issues in Human Sexuality” — primarily the matter of homosexuals in the Church. The report proposed, controversially, that while homosexuality might in some circumstances be acceptable in the laity, it could never be permissible among the clergy. Soon after his retirement, however, Baker declared that this distinction had been a serious mistake, and said that gay clergy should enjoy the same freedom as the laity and be encouraged to marry. The then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, responded with a statement asserting: “Bishop John Baker’s conclusion suggests a very significant departure from the Church’s current mind and teaching.”

Baker was a fine preacher and teacher who took great pains over everything he spoke and wrote. Standing 6ft 4in tall, he had a commanding presence, and his gaunt countenance added dignity to great occasions in cathedrals and parish churches. His pastoral care of the diocesan clergy was exemplary, and when three children died in a fire at a vicarage he took the parents and the surviving child into the bishop’s house for several weeks.

But Baker was less good at caring for himself, and until illness intervened he drove himself much too hard. Only a few months after undergoing a hip replacement operation he climbed the spire of Salisbury Cathedral to inspect restoration work. He seemed incapable of writing a short letter, and it was surprising that one who was never physically strong stood the pace of episcopal life for so long.

John Austin Baker was born in Birmingham on January 11 1928. His father was a company secretary, but three of his uncles were clergymen and an aunt was a nun. At Marlborough, he was keen on languages and considered a career in the Diplomatic Service, but by the time he was 18 he had decided on Holy Orders, and went up to Oriel College, Oxford, to read Classics. A disappointing result in Mods, however, led him to switch to Theology, in which he took a very good First.

After two years at Cuddesdon Theological College he was ordained, and stayed on as a tutor in Old Testament studies at the college and as curate of the parish church. It was now plain that he was destined for an academic career. He was an assistant lecturer at King’s College, London, from 1957 to 1959 (he would return there as a visiting professor, from 1974 to 1977), then spent 14 years as Fellow, Chaplain and Lecturer in Divinity at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Baker also taught at Brasenose, Lincoln and Exeter Colleges. He was a diligent teacher, and in addition to writing The Foolishness of God he translated several theological books by German and French scholars.

In 1973 Baker was appointed to a canonry at Westminster, and a year later became Treasurer of the Abbey, a demanding post which revealed his financial acumen — though his proposal that the Abbey’s world-famous choir should be closed down to save money did not find support among his colleagues. In 1978 he was made Sub-Dean, and in the same year became rector of St Margaret’s and Speaker’s Chaplain.

A heavy workload in Westminster and elsewhere would not permit him to undertake much more than the formal duties required in the House of Commons, but Baker threw himself into the pastoral work of St Margaret’s and revitalised its life. As always, his preaching was greatly admired, and he arranged a notable series of lectures on the problems of Northern Ireland. His own contribution to this subject took him to Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, where he said in 1995: “England should repent publicly of the wrongs it inflicted on Ireland in the same way that Germany did over the Holocaust.”

Baker’s appointment as Bishop of Salisbury added much-needed theological weight to the bench of bishops, though inevitably it made further sustained writing impossible. None the less, he contributed chapters to symposiums on a variety of subjects, including the ordination of women, racism, peace, Northern Ireland and animal welfare.

Strong relations were established between Salisbury diocese and the Anglican Church in war-torn Sudan, and he made several visits to that country, offering support and encouragement to the suffering Christians.

Baker was chairman of the Church of England’s Doctrine Commission from 1985 to 1987, and a member of the Committee for Theological Education; the standing committee of the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission; and of the Council of Christians and Jews. He also served on the governing bodies of several schools, though he did not favour independent education.

He was awarded a Lambeth DD in 1991.

In retirement Baker became an honorary assistant bishop in Winchester diocese, where he was a much-appreciated preacher and lecturer, and wrote a number of books on the Christian faith.

He is survived by his wife, Jill, whom he married in Westminster Abbey in 1974 and who strongly supported him throughout his ministry and a long period of ill health.